I’ve spoken to plenty of travelers who loved visiting Hanoi (plus, lots of expats live there for a reason) and others who visited and couldn’t wait to leave.
But if you asked me directly: Is Hanoi worth visiting? My personal opinion is yes, absolutely. It’s Vietnam’s capital, has tons of history and charm, and if the weather lines up with your travel dates (a potential major negative), then it’s definitely worth visiting.
🏨 The Oriental Jade (see on Agoda / Booking): very nice 5-star hotel, great location, across from Hoan Kiem Lake and near St. Joseph Cathedral
🏨 Serene Central (see on Agoda / Booking): boutique hotel, great location, very friendly staff (where I stayed recently)
🎟️ Activities & Tours: see a Hanoi water puppet show or the Hanoi Train Street food tour
If you’re planning a trip to Vietnam, I would strongly consider visiting at least one of the country’s major cities: Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. I’ve spent time in both cities (having lived in Ho Chi Minh City for years), and each offers a different experience. But this article is about Hanoi!
Depending on when you plan to visit Vietnam, it could make your choice on whether to visit Hanoi or skip it much easier. Being in the north, Hanoi’s weather swings from very hot and humid in the summer to chilly in the winter.
Also, regarding the when: there are times during the year when Hanoi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. This usually coincides with winter. So if you’re at all sensitive to pollution, then you may have already decided to skip Hanoi. I visited Hanoi in October and November, and I personally didn’t notice or have any issues — the weather was great, actually. If you have any questions about visiting Hanoi, ask them in my free Vietnam travel planning groups.
Reasons to Visit Hanoi or Skip It
This is an overview of what I think are fair reasons to visit Hanoi or skip it. These reasons are purely my own impressions after different trips to Hanoi. Since travel tastes and preferences are largely subjective (why some people love one city while others hate it), I try to wear a “general travel” hat when writing about Vietnam travel and putting these reasons together.
I’ve written similar articles about HCMC, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, Ninh Binh, and Nha Trang.
| Reasons to Visit Hanoi | Reasons to Skip Hanoi |
|---|---|
| It’s the country’s capital | Bouts of bad pollution |
| There’s a lot to see and do | If you have mobility issues |
| Hanoi Train Street | Varying weather extremes |
| Very affordable for a capital city | Traffic, congestion, chaos |
| The street food and coffee | |
| A lot of interesting history | |
| Jump-off point for northern Vietnam |
In the sections further down, I’ll go into the positive reasons to visit Hanoi in-depth. But first, I actually want to touch on the negatives (or reasons you might want to skip Hanoi).
The pollution. There are times during the year when Hanoi is one of the most polluted cities on earth. Here is Hanoi on IQAir, a site that monitors worldwide air quality. Hanoi’s pollution is at its worst usually during the winter, from November through March. This actually coincides with the chillier weather in Hanoi, too. So if you’re not interested in cold weather in Vietnam, you can skip Hanoi in the winter (and avoid the worst time for pollution).
Mobility issues. First, let me say that you can absolutely take taxis everywhere you want to go in Hanoi. But once inside some of the sites…like Ba Dinh Square, for example, you’ll have a hard time enjoying them if you lack mobility. If, on the other hand, you like walking everywhere, being out and about, and don’t have mobility issues — then you’ll find Hanoi fun to explore. From the west side of Hoan Kiem Lake, you can walk to a ton of different things. On a recent trip, I stayed in this area (at the Serene Central) and walked between 5 and 8 miles per day. Tons of on-foot exploring to do.
Weather extremes. I touched on this in the pollution section above, but Hanoi’s weather swings between hot and humid in the summer and chilly and polluted in the winter. There are in betweens (sort of), but this swing could easily disuade you from visiting Hanoi, depending on when you’re planning to visit Vietnam.
The traffic and chaos. This isn’t unique to Hanoi. A lot of Ho Chi Minh City experiences the same roadway chaos. But it’s something to prepare for: the endless honking, random streets gridlocked, scooters riding on the sidewalks, scooters going the wrong way down the roads, cars/scooters not always yielding to crosswalks or even red lights, etc.
Why You Should Visit Hanoi
There’s a lot to do in Hanoi
There are a lot of things to do in Hanoi, way too many to list in this article. I wrote a separate guide on that, which details some great choices for a first visit. You can see that article here.
If you stay around Hoan Kiem Lake (discussed at the end), you’ll be within walking distance of at least a dozen different places/activities. If you are interested in visiting Hanoi, my recommendation is at least three full days. These will be pretty full and busy days, so you can go up to four or five days and find plenty to do in Hanoi.
Just some of the highlights of my recent trip to Hanoi: the Hoa Lo Prison, Hanoi Train Street, Ba Dinh Square, the Temple of Literature, and the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum. You can walk to all of these from Hoan Kiem Lake.
Regarding history: Ba Dinh Square here is where Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945. His body is on display at the nearby Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Also at Ba Dinh Square is the actual stilt house that Ho Chi Minh lived in. This requires a ticket, as does the Ho Chi Minh Museum that’s on site. But the square itself is free to visit.
A bit further out (you’ll need to use the Grab app) are the Museum of Ethnology and the new-ish Military History Museum.
I met a local tour guide in Hanoi whose company offers free tours in exchange for practicing their English. I definitely recommend reaching out to them here: Hanoi Free Private Tour Guide. I met a few of the guides, who were all very friendly. This is 100% one of those occasions where I would tip the guides.
Hanoi Train Street
Technically, this is considered a “thing to do,” but I feel it warrants its own section. This is one of the more unique activities in all of Vietnam, and maybe in Southeast Asia. And since it’s free and easy to access, it’s one of those low-effort, high-reward activities.
There are two main areas of Hanoi Train Street: the northern and southern locations. The trains come at different times throughout the day, and you can literally show up a few minutes before, see the train pass, then go on with your day. The southern location is generally quieter.
You could also come an hour to 30 minutes beforehand, and sit and have a meal or coffee while waiting for the train.
The train street locations are on the western side of Hoan Kiem Lake. What I would do is visit in the morning or the afternoon while you’re out and about visiting other attractions in Hanoi. The northern one, in particular, can get busy and rowdy with partiers in the evening and night. Like I said, I’d personally look to visit either location earlier in the day if you can.
If you stay near Hoan Kiem Lake, you’ll go right past Hanoi Train Street while walking to/from the Temple of Literature here and the National Fine Arts Museum here. These two places are next to each other. Hanoi Train Street is an easy attraction to pair with others.
Very affordable for a capital city
For as much as it has going on, Hanoi is very affordable for a major capital city. I’ve said this in other articles, but depending on where you’re flying from, you could spend far more on round-trip plane tickets than on an entire vacation in Vietnam.
Attraction tickets to the city’s different museums are between 40.000 VND and 70.000 VND each. Certain things, like Hanoi Train Street, Tran Quoc Pagoda, and Ba Dinh Square itself, are free. Walking around Hoan Kiem Lake is, of course, also free.
The Old Quarter and overall Hoan Kiem Lake area are congested with hotel options. This is actually a good thing because what I’m most focused on is the area (location). And with so many hotels, you really have your choice of style and price, all of which are in the same great location.
For example: The 3-star Astoria Hanoi Hotel (see on Agoda / Booking) can be found for under $40 USD per night. And it’s in the same great location as The Oriental Jade (see on Agoda / Booking), a nice 5-star hotel right around the corner. These are both right near St. Joseph Cathedral.
The egg coffee and local food
This pretty much goes for anywhere you visit in Vietnam: get out there and try the egg coffee, banh mis, pho, or any other of several different Vietnamese dishes. One of my favorite Vietnamese dishes is bun cha, which I actually eat several times per month, no matter where I am in Vietnam.
I had some great bun cha at O Bun Cha here, which is right down the street from Ba Dinh Square and HCM’s Mausoleum, so you can pair lunch here with a visit there. I also had good bun cha at Lake View 1983 here, which is right across the street from the southern end of Hoan Kiem Lake.
While walking to visit Tran Quoc Pagoda and see John McCain’s effigy here, I stopped for some egg coffee at AYUP Coffee. This is in a quieter area north of Hoan Kiem Lake. There are dozens of good places to get egg coffee, though. This search shows egg coffee places west of Hoan Kiem Lake — tons of choices. This is near the two hotels I mentioned above (Astoria and The Oriental Jade).
A “good” or normal price to pay for egg coffee is somewhere in the 40.000 VND to 60.000 VND range. Some places charge more — 80.000 VND+. This would be considered expensive for egg coffee. But it’s totally up to you; I’m just sharing some upfront pricing information so you’re prepared.
A great base for northern Vietnam
Hanoi can be used as a great day trip (or a few days) base for visiting other cities in the region. You could land at the airport, then be on your way elsewhere right away. Or, you could spend a couple of days in Hanoi, then use the Hanoi Railway Station, which is just west of Hoan Kiem Lake here.
Popular tourist spots in the region include Halong Bay, Ninh Binh, Sapa, Mai Chau, Ha Giang, and others.
As far as international airports go, Noi Bai (HAN) isn’t the worst nor the best, but it’s definitely a smoother experience than HCMC’s Airport, Tan Son Nhat (SGN). You might want the fast-track service if you’re landing in HCMC. Noi Bai Airport is about 30 to 40 minutes north of the city. But it’s very easy to use the Grab app after landing to order a taxi or pre-book an airport transfer from a website like Klook. I personally use Grab.
On my recent visit to Hanoi, I took the train down to Ninh Binh from Hanoi Railway Station. The trip was about two hours. The train goes directly to Ninh Binh Railway Station here. Then, it’s only about a 10-minute taxi to Tam Coc or Trang An. For train tickets in Vietnam, I personally use Baolau (they accept international credit cards).
If the train schedule doesn’t align with your plans, you can mix/match taking the train with ordering a private car, shared van, or taxi. I’d look at 12Go for this, which I’ve also used to order private cars myself.
Where to Stay in Hanoi for First-Timers
Hanoi is sprawling and dense, so figuring out where to stay for your first visit is likely overwhelming. Having said that, I’ll make it very easy: if it’s your first trip to Hanoi, stay anywhere around Hoan Kiem Lake. I wrote a separate article that focuses on where to stay in Hanoi.
The west side of the lake is the specific area that I’d recommend staying in for a first visit. Many of Hanoi’s attractions are west of here, so it’s a good base to explore Hanoi. The famous Hanoi Train Street (which has a couple of entry points) is west of the lake, so you can incorporate a stop here while visiting other nearby attractions.
Look at the Hanoi Calista (see on Agoda / Booking), or the aforementioned Oriental Jade (see on Agoda / Booking), which is right around the corner from St. Joseph Cathedral — an awesome location.
The northern side of the lake is the famous Old Quarter, which has a lot of bars, restaurants, hostels, and generally, the backpacker crowd. There are some nice 4- and 5-star hotels mixed in here, though. The Lavender Central (see on Agoda / Booking) is a solid 3-star choice. For something nicer, look at the La Siesta Premium Hang Be (see on Agoda / Booking).
The east side of the lake, between the lake and the highway, is the French Quarter. This is generally a calmer area, with limited hotel options, but two of them are among the nicest 5-star hotels in Hanoi. See the Capella Hanoi (see on Agoda / Booking) and the Metropole Hanoi (see on Agoda / Booking).
There are some good hotel choices south of Hoan Kiem Lake, too. This is also right near some of the city’s attractions, like Hoa Lo Prison and the Women’s Museum. I’d look at the new-ish La Siesta Premium Lakeside (see on Agoda / Booking). I toured this hotel, and it’s in a great location just next to Hoan Kiem Lake.
As a final wrap-up about hotels and Hoan Kiem Lake, I’ll say this: the entire area surrounding the lake is all walkable. So you can stay anywhere around the lake and be in a convenient location for visiting and exploring Hanoi.
